2011 Christmas Greetings and Wishes

I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and I hope that it is a blessed day for all of you. I also hope that Santa brings each of you everything you asked for. As far as the Grand Ole Opry, as I have done for the last 2 years, I have some greetings to send to them also, along with my own Christmas "wish list" for the Opry:

To Pete Fisher and Steve Buchanan, I hope for a new Opry television contract, and for RFD-TV, I hope you are the ones to get it. I also hope that you will consider more on-line streaming of the Opry's shows. And, please, don't mess with the show any more. Most of us thought it was fine the way it was.

For Jimmy Dickens, Jean Shepard, Carol Lee Cooper, Stu Phillips and Hal Ketchum, I wish each of you better health this coming year. And in the case of Carol Lee and Hal, a return to the Opry stage. For Loretta Lynn, congratulations on your upcoming 50th anniversary as an Opry member, but it would mean more if you would actually appear more often. Please try to remember how important the Opry was to your career.

For Jim Ed Brown, Charlie Daniels, George Hamilton IV and Connie Smith, a call from the Country Music Hall of Fame welcoming you as a new member. For Gene Watson, Rhonda Vincent and Mandy Barnett, a call from Pete Fisher asking you to be the Opry's newest members.

For the families of Charlie Louvin, Wilma Lee Cooper, Billy Grammer and Mel McDaniel, peace this holiday season. We are all so sorry that these great Opry members have passed away. They are all missed.

To veteran Opry members such as Stonewall Jackson, Ray Pillow, Jack Greene, Jan Howard, Jeannie Seely and Jimmy C Newman, my Christmas wish is for more Opry appearances. Please Pete, call them more often. They enjoy playing the Opry as much as we enjoy listening to them. To Bill Anderson, congratulations on your 50th anniversary as an Opry member. I hope you last 50 more years on the Opry. To Mike Snider and Riders In The Sky, thanks for keeping humor on the Opry stage. To Vince Gill, Marty Stuart and Ricky Skaggs, thanks for supporting the Opry over the years and the hope is that you will continue to do so. For Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts and the Oak Ridge Boys, the Opry's newest members, please don't forget where the Opry House is out. We need you to support the show.

To Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Tom T. Hall, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Travis Tritt, a GPS system for your car locked into 2804 Opryland Drive. To Lorrie Morgan and George Jones, please come back to the Opry and please remember how important the Opry once was to your careers. We do miss you. To Clint Black and Randy Travis, thanks for coming back to the Opry. Please return more often. And to Dolly Parton, I know you are busy, but we would all love to see you more than once a year.

To Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ralph Stanley and Del McCoury, thanks for carrying on the bluegrass tradition. And to Alison Krauss, it was nice to see you this year. Your sweet voice was missed and we need to hear it more often. To Jeanne Pruett, Barbara Mandrell and Ricky Van Shelton, continue to enjoy your retirements. All of you have earned it. And if any of you get the itch to come back, the Opry will welcome you.

To Trace Adkins, Craig Morgan, Josh Turner, Montgomery Gentry, Carrie Underwood and Dierks Bentley, please keep remembering where the Opry House is. And to Brad Paisley, thanks for being there after the flood, but you kind-of went away this year. Please don't forget how good the Opry was to you before you became a star.

To Mandy Barnett, Elizabeth Cook, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Restless Heart, James Wesley and Holly Williams, thanks for answering the phone when Pete calls at the last minute. My wish is that each of you has a million selling record this coming year.

To Connie Smith, Emmylou Harris and Patty Loveless, my wish is that three of the sweetest voices on the Opry continue to keep these voices. And Patty, the Opry is still there for you. It needs you more than a couple of times each year. And to Emmylou, congratulations on 20 years at the Opry. Keep coming back. I think you enjoy it. I know the Opry enjoys you.

To John Conlee, Terri Clark, Martina McBride, Joe Diffie, Steve Wariner, Diamond Rio, Charley Pride, The Whites and Mel Tillis, my wish is that each of you gives the Opry another year of great performances. And to Pam Tillis, it was great to see you back more often this past year. To Larry Gatlin, thanks for hosting the Opry Country Classics show and for bringing your down home style to the show.

To all the non-Opry members who came out to the Opry this past year, thanks. There are too many to mention, but my wish is that we see more of you this year. You help to keep the show fresh and help to fill out the line-up when the missing Opry stars to not appear.

To Mike Terry, Bill Cody and Eddie Stubbs, thanks for the great introductions that you give us each week on the show. And Eddie, congratulations on the Hall of Fame induction. It is well deserved. To the Carol Lee Singers and the Opry Staff band, thanks. The show would be missing something without the talents each of your groups bring. And to the Opry Square Dancers, my thanks also. I know I could not dance like that.

To Gaylord Entertainment, may you continue to give the Opry the resources and respect that the show needs and deserves. And please, get the Opry Museum back open again. People do miss it.

And to all the Opry fans, please continue to support the show. Some weeks it is not easy, but if we are not in the audience or listening on the radio, there would be no Opry. To the new readers of the blog, welcome and thanks for checking us out. And for those who have been with me since the beginning, my continued thanks. And thanks for the comments. We are all friends here and I enjoy the chat and the emails you send. And to those I have met while attending the Opry, thanks for making my trips to Nashville even more enjoyable.

Finally, Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. May peace be with each of you.

Byron
aka: Fayfare